Black Cat: Bad Luck
by spentlizard
Summary: Separate from TMSM Universe, this is the retold origin story of Felicia Hardy, focusing on her childhood aspirations, to her teenage ambitions, to her tragic beginnings, to her free-roaming vigilante lifestyle, and to her eventual relationship with everyone's favorite friendly neighborhood wall-crawler. Wherever this story may lead to, don't ever let her cross your path.
1. Fantasies

Even as a child, Felicia Hardy was always fascinated with the world of fantasy. It was full of so much excitement and adventure that she wanted to become a part of it herself. She remembered the first comic-book her mother and father bought for her back when she was six years old, back when they had just moved into Queens. It was an issue of _Batman, _and it featured him trying to stop the Riddler and Two-Face from taking over the minds of everyone in Gotham City for a bribe of $50 million. It was jam-packed with so many thrills and action-sequences that she instantly fell in love with it. Everything about it made Felicia feel happy and content, and she was able to convince her parents to let her get a monthly-subscription for it.

With every issue that she read, the more she became immersed inside the fictional world of Batman. Felicia greatly admired his courage and bravery when going into battle, and also his determination to fight injustice. She also felt sadness in his origin, because his parents were murdered right in front of him as a kid by a common hoodlum. She also took great moral values from him, such as being able to work hard to reach a goal, keeping your body and mind in full-focus, and always try to help others. Because he possessed all of these qualities, Felicia wanted to be just like him.

However, there was another character she admired, and she wasn't as great of a person as Batman. It was Selina Kyle, Catwoman. While typically portrayed as an adversary of him, Felicia liked her carefree, adventurous lifestyle. She didn't really care for her criminal exploits, but she thought that her frequent on-again/off-again relationship with Batman, along with her anti-hero alignment with him from time to time, were interesting enough for her to enjoy the character. In addition, she also found her black-leather cat-themed costume to be interesting, since it reminded Felicia of her pet cat, Onyx.

Combining the moral qualities of Batman and the adventurous lifestyle of Catwoman, Felicia aspired to become just like them. She wanted to be a superhero herself, and she would keep this in mind for many years to come.

However, she didn't know that she would actually get there, and she didn't know of the price she would have to eventually pay.


	2. First Day

"Felicia, honey, it's time for school." her mother, Lydia, called out into her bedroom. When she heard no response, she said "Felicia? You better get up. You don't want to be late for your first day of Kindergarten."

"Hmm?" Felicia, barely awake, groaned.

"Come on, time to get up now." Mrs. Hardy said.

"Okay." Felicia reluctantly accepted. Sitting up on her bed, she brushed her long, golden-blonde hair out of her emerald-green eyes and saw her cat, Onyx, lying across the bed. He had slept here the previous night with her, and she enjoyed his company. Though the myth was that a black cat crossing your path was bad luck, it seemed to have an opposite effect on her. Petting him, Felicia got out of bed and looked at the clothes hanging in her open closet, deciding on what to wear. When she reached a decision, she pulled out a blue, plaid skirt and a white polo and put them on. Afterwards, she put on a black sweater over her shirt and put on a pair of white socks and black shoes. When she was finished putting on her clothes, she went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and hair, making sure she was all ready for the day ahead. Backtracking to her room for her backpack, she saw Onyx roaming around the room, chasing his tail. After she grabbed her Batman-themed backpack, Felicia gave him one last petting before she closed her bedroom door.

* * *

"Good morning, Mommy!" Felicia exclaimed as she walked downstairs into the kitchen for breakfast. "How are you?"

"Hi, honey!" Mrs. Hardy said, greeting her daughter. "I'm fine. How are you? Did you sleep well?"

"Yes." Felicia said, but that wasn't necessarily true. She stayed up until 10:30 reading the latest issue of _Batman_, and she was so caught up in it that she lost track of the time.

"Well, that's good to hear." Mrs. Hardy said. "I have your breakfast ready on the table, and Dad is sitting there already."

"Okay, thank you!" she said as she went to go join her father. When she got to the table, her dad, Walter, was taking a sip from his cup of coffee while reading today's copy of _The Daily Bugle_. Sitting down next to him, Felicia said "Good morning, Daddy!"

Looking away from his paper, he turned to her and said "Good morning, kitten! You all ready for your first day of school?"

Felicia liked it when he called her "kitten." It was the nickname he had for her due to her gentle nature and her caring for Onyx.

"You bet I am!" she said, very cheery. She then picked up the spoon that sat upon the table and started to eat the bowl of Cheerios that her mother had made for her.

"Listen, I want to give you some advice for your first day." Walter said, putting down his cup and his newspaper. "First, I want you to meet some new friends this year. Starting friendships early on in life can go a long way. Just look at me and your mother. We both met in Kindergarten, and we didn't know how far we would actually go. So just keep your eyes peeled, okay?"

"Okay." Felicia said.

"Second, if anyone teases or bullies you, don't try to handle it yourself, okay? You go straight to a teacher, the principal, or another responsible adult if there's any trouble. The same thing goes if you see anyone else being bullied." Walter said.

"Alright." Felicia accepted.

"Third, and this is probably the most important, if you want to achieve something, if you really want to accomplish a goal, if it's truly your desire and you devote your heart, mind, and soul to it, go get it. No matter how much other people may want what you desire, don't ever hold back for them. Don't ever settle for second best." Walter said, somewhat fierce and passionate about what he was saying.

"Okay." Felicia said, understanding only a little bit of what he was saying. After she finished eating her cereal, she caught a glimpse of _the Bugle's _headline, which read _"__Crime-Rate Up 45%." _Then, she understood what he was getting at. She wanted to become a superhero and bring about justice in New York, and she wasn't going to let anything hold her back from doing so.

Checking his watch, Walter said "Oh Lord, your bus will be here any minute! Come on, let's go!"

"Alright. Bye, Mom!" Felicia called back to her mother.

"Bye, sweetheart!" she said as her husband and daughter left through the front door. After they closed the door behind them, Felicia and Walter stood outside for a few minutes, waiting for the school bus to arrive. While waiting, Felicia couldn't help but think that she and her father were almost exactly alike. They had the same attitudes, same interests, and same emotions among various things. The only real difference was that her eyes were the same shade of green as her mother's, while her father's were piercing-blue. Another major difference was that, unlike her father's greying, black hair and her mother's auburn hair, Felicia's hair was purely blonde.

When the bus finally arrived, Walter gave Felicia a hug and said "Have a good day, kitten."

"I will. Thanks, Dad." she said, and she waved goodbye as she got on the bus. Once inside, she saw that most of the seats were filled already, except for an empty seat on the right-hand side towards the back. After she sat down and the bus started to pull away, she heard a voice from behind yell "Hey! Stop the bus!"

Looking out of her window, Felicia saw a boy wearing a red T-shirt, blue jeans, white sneakers, and large glasses running down the sidewalk, followed closely by a man who looked to be in his late forties. When the driver heard the boy's voice he pulled the bus over and opened the door, and he stood in the opening saying "Oh, thank you. I'm sorry I'm late." Turning around to face the older man, he said "Bye, Uncle Ben."

The man responded by saying "Bye, buddy. I'll see you after school."

After the boy boarded the bus and the doors shut, the driver pulled away and continued to head towards Midtown Elementary. The boy tried to find a place to sit, but every seat he passed by had people in them and they said things like "Seat's taken, Parker." Some of them could've made room for him, but most of them chose to be selfish and forced him to keep heading towards the back. At one point, the boy was tripped by a larger, meaner looking boy, and he fell towards the floor. His glasses fell off his face and his neatly-combed brown hair became messy, and almost everybody laughed. When the driver asked if he was alright, he responded by saying that he was fine and that he just tripped.

Felicia felt extremely bad for him because he was getting bullied and no one had said anything about it. She wanted to tell the driver what had happened, but she didn't know this kid or the jerk who tripped him. Instead, the kindest gesture that she could make was to say to him "You can sit here if you want."

The boy, after getting up off the floor and putting his glasses back on his face, turned his head to face Felicia and their eyes met. She could see that his eyes were a dark brown color, and there was something about them that made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. The boy then said "Thank you very much." and he took his place next to her.

"You know," Felicia said. "you really don't have to put up with those guys. Just tell a teacher and they'll stop."

"Yeah, but then they'll just do it again, even outside of school." he said.

"Well, you can't just sit back and take it." Felicia said. "Sometimes, you got to stand up for yourself."

"I'll try to keep that in mind." the boy said. He then outstretched his hand to her and said. "I'm Peter, by the way. Peter Parker."

Taking Peter's hand, she said "Nice to met you, Peter. I'm Felicia. Felicia Hardy."

"Nice to meet you, too." Peter said. Then, he noticed the backpack she was wearing, and he asked "Hey, is that a limited-edition Bat-Pack?"

Felicia, surprised that he took notice, said "Why, yes it is. Do you like it?"

"Like it?" Peter asked. "I've always wanted one of those! I'm really into Batman comics."

"Really?" Felicia asked. "Me too! That's awesome!"

Along the way to school, the only thing the two kids mainly talked about was Batman, from his exploits to his triumphs to his losses, and how they both looked up to him as a fictional inspiration to do the right thing.

Little did they know that they would eventually be following by his example together.


	3. First Day, Part 2

"So, where do you live?" Peter asked when the bus arrived at their school.

"Well," Felicia said. "when the bus started to pull away, it was right in front of my house."

"Cool." Peter said. "That means I only live a couple of blocks away from you. Maybe we could hang out sometime."

"Well, I'm sure my parents would be okay with it, but would yours be?" she asked.

Peter sighed, and he said "I never knew my parents. They left me when I was very young, too young to even remember them. They left me in the care of my Uncle Ben and Aunt May, and they raised me as if I was their own son. I think they'd be okay with it, seeing as I never have any friends over anyway."

"Alright," Felicia said, feeling sympathetic for him. "So, what do your aunt and uncle do? Are they nice?"

"They're the most thoughtful and considerate people on the face of the planet. They never let me down." Peter said. "Aunt May is a part-time nurse at the hospital, and Uncle Ben is an electrician at the power-plant. What do your parents do?"

"Well, my Mom works at a hair salon and my Dad is a stockbroker." Felicia said. "They're nice people, too."

"I'll bet they are, because you seem like a really nice person." Peter complimented.

"Thank you, Peter!" Felicia said, feeling really appreciated, and all of the students stood up and got off of the bus. When they entered in through the front door of the school, the two kids heard a voice behind them say "Hey, Pete!"

Turning around, Felicia saw a reddish-brown haired boy wearing a green, plaid button-up shirt and brown pants waving at Peter.

"Hi, Harry." Peter greeted him. "How was your trip?"

"Well, you'd think that spending the summer in London would be fun, but it was anything but that. I was constantly either sitting in a hotel room or being forced to keep quiet during Dad's meetings." Harry moaned. "Trust me, you wouldn't have liked it."

"Hey, at least you were able to get out of the country." Peter said. "The only place I've ever gone to outside of the city was Princeton."

Remembering that Felicia was still there, Peter said "Oh, I'm sorry. Felicia, this is Harry Osborn. He's a friend of mine. Harry, this is Felicia Hardy. She moved here a couple of months ago."

As Harry outstretched his hand to her, he said "Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you, too." Felicia said, shaking his hand. Suddenly, a thought popped into her head. "'Osborn?' As in 'Oscorp' Osborn?"

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "Norman's my dad. Big whoop."

Felicia could tell that he obviously resented his father, so she decided that it was best to not continue asking. She was going to ask him what his interests were, but the same boy who tripped Peter on the bus pushed through both him and Harry, knocking them to the floor. As the bully walked away laughing, Felicia, concerned for their well-being, asked "Oh my gosh, are you guys okay?"

"We're fine." Harry said, picking himself up off the ground. "This happens all the time. I guess being the son of a billionaire industrialist doesn't give you a free-pass on life."

"Who was that anyway?" Felicia inquired.

"Eugene Thompson, jerk of the year." Peter said, cleaning his glasses. "He doesn't care for anybody but himself. He constantly tries to show that he's better than everybody else by bullying or playing sports, but he's really just a pea-brained Neanderthal."

"One of those guys, huh?" Felicia said. "Come on, let's get to the classroom before the bell rings."

* * *

The day was going smoothly so far. Their teacher, Mrs. Cunningham, was extremely nice, and for the first day, she allowed the students to pick out whatever book they wanted to read from her bookshelf. When it was Peter's turn to go get a book, Felicia noticed that his attention was on a 5th grade-level book on the sciences. When he went to go pull it off the shelf, Mrs. Cunningham told him "Oh Peter, that book is much too advanced for someone your age. Perhaps you would care for something a little more your speed?"

"It's alright, ma'am. I've read these kind of books before. I'll be fine." Peter said before taking the book off the shelf. When everyone had gotten their books (Felicia having gotten "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," which she had read a million times before), he went to go sit in the corner of the room and read by himself. As Felicia started to make her way over to him, she saw two girls, a redhead wearing a pink cardigan and another blonde wearing an orange sweater, standing in front of her.

"Hello." the redhead said to her. "My name's Mary Jane, but everyone calls me MJ."

"And my name's Gwen." the blonde said. "What's your name?"

"Felicia." she said. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too." Gwen said. "So, are you new here?"

"Yes. I moved here from Midtown East about a few months ago." Felicia said.

"Same here." Mary Jane said. "I've been living with my Aunt Anna for a couple of months."

"I see." Felicia said, but she didn't dare ask her why, because she didn't know what Peter was going to say. "Well, I'm just going to go join Peter over there, now. You're welcome to join if you want."

"Nah, it's alright. He's my next-door neighbor anyway, and I see him all the time." Mary Jane said.

"Really?" Felicia asked. "That means I live close by your house too. Peter told me he lived a few blocks from where I live."

"That's cool. Maybe we could get together sometime." Mary Jane said, then Gwen began her own introduction.

"Peter's my friend, but he always just has his nose buried in a book. When he is, I tend to leave him to it because I can't seem to pull his attention away. I remember how I first met him. One day, my dad was giving me a ride in his police car. He's a cop, by the way. When we came around this area, he was walking across the street while reading a book. We would've hit him if Dad didn't hit the brakes quickly enough."

"Wow, that sounds intense." Felicia said, awestruck. "Well, I think I'll take my chances with him. I'll see you guys later."

"Okay, bye." both Mary Jane and Gwen said, and Felicia walked over to Peter and sat down next to him.

"Hey, Peter." she chimed. "Whatcha reading?"

"There's _very _fascinating information here on how electricity works. It shows us how when proton and electron subatomic particles are placed together on an electromagnetic field, it creates a force which generates an electric charge!" Peter said, sounding excited.

"Okay, I'm not going to pretend like I understood a word you just said, but that sounds really cool!" Felicia said.

"It is." Peter said, eyes still focused on the pages. "I'm kind of a science-nerd, one of the reasons why Eugene picks on me."

"I don't think you're a nerd, and anyone who picks on anybody because of their interests is just plain wrong." Felicia said, trying to comfort him. "Besides, this sciency-stuff seems pretty interesting."

"Thanks." Peter said, closing the book and looking at her. "I just wish that more people would treat me the way that you treat me, seeing me as more than just a bookworm. I really appreciate it."

"Your welcome." Felicia said with a smile upon her face, and then Peter opened his book again to show her the wonderful world of science.


	4. First Day, Part 3

The bell had rung, indicating that it was time for recess. Once all of the students had ran outside to the playground, most of them had started to play games like tag, kickball, and baseball. Others went to the slides, the jungle-gym, and the swings. However, one of them went over to sit by himself on a bench, reading a book, under the shade of an oak tree.

From a distance, Felicia, sitting on a swing, could tell that Peter didn't want to play with the other children. He always just sat alone and away from others. Had he been bullied so much in his life that he was some sort of outcast to them? The thought of that made her sick.

"Hey," Gwen's voice said from behind her. "Do you mind if I sit on the swing next to you?"

"Sure, go ahead. Nobody's stopping you." Felicia sighed.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Gwen asked as she sat down on the swing.

"I'm fine, it's just..." Felicia paused for a moment, then she took a deep breath. "It just makes me sad that he's always alone."

"Me too. It's not his fault, either. When guys like Eugene push you around, you don't want to have to be around what they do. So, he stays away and reads because the books won't hurt him."

"That's terrible!" Felicia said in disgust. "No one should have to live like that!"

"I know," Gwen said. "but there's nothing we can do about it unless he stands up for himself. I wish that he- oh no." Her eyes broke away from Felicia's.

"What? What is it?" Felicia asked, worried.

"Eugene's starting it again." Gwen said, quickly getting up. When Felicia turned her head to where Gwen was looking, she saw a crowd of students. Within that crowd, she saw Eugene holding up a book in the air and Peter, jumping, trying to grab it from him.

"Give it back, Eugene! It's mine!" Peter shouted while flailing his arms.

"Or what, Puny Parker? Are you going to bore me to death with your nerd-isms?" Eugene laughed. He lowered his arm slightly so that Peter could grab the book, but then, as he tried to grab it, he pulled his arm right back up, causing Peter to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

"I'm just too fast for you, Parker. You'll never beat me because I'm like one of your nerd idols. What's his name, 'the Flash?'" Eugene asked. "Yeah, that's sounds about right. Hey, everybody! From now on, you all call me 'Flash,' alright?"

Getting up from the ground, Peter said "Even if you were as fast as him, you'd still be nothing like him. Unlike you, he uses his power responsibly."

"Enough of your geek-talk, Parker." Flash said, and he punched Peter across his right cheek, causing him to fall to the ground again.

"Peter!" Felicia cried out as she ran towards him. Her new friend was just hurt, and she couldn't let that stand. Rushing to his side, she saw that there was a black-and-blue mark beneath his eye, along with the right-lens of his glasses shattered.

"Oh my gosh, Peter! Are you alright?" Felicia worriedly asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll be alright." He said, trying to pick himself back up. While he was doing so, Flash sniggered and said "Aw, it looks like Parker's got himself a _girlfriend_! You feel sorry for the poor little dweeb?"

Felicia's heart filled with extreme anger and hatred towards Flash. She despised every bit of him and thought of him as nothing more than a cruel and uncaring bully. She remembered that her father said not to handle things like this herself, but there was no one around willing to take action. She also remembered what she wanted to do with her life, and decided that she would do exactly what Batman would do in this situation: fight back against injustice.

Standing up, Felicia charged at Flash with her left fist clenched, prepared to hit him back. Flash reacted quickly, though, and he blocked her punch, followed by backhanding her across the face. As Felicia fell onto the ground, crying, Flash said "You should've stayed away. Try that again, and I won't be so gentle next time."

Mrs. Cunningham came rushing to the scene, and she shouted "What is going on here? Someone better tell me, right now!"

"Eugene hit us both!" Peter said. "He took my book and hit me, and then he hit Felicia!"

"It's Flash now, Parker. Mrs. Cunningham, I _never _took his book or hit either of them. I think they're just mentally disturbed." Flash fibbed, trying to get out of trouble.

"You liar!" Felicia shouted tears running down her face. "You broke his glasses and backhanded me!"

"That's enough!" Mrs. Cunningham silenced them. "Now, Ms. Hardy, if your able enough, I would like you to take yourself and Mr. Parker over to the nurse's office. I'll notify your families that you two are okay. As for you, Mr. Thompson, you're coming with me to the principal's office. You're in big trouble, young man. The rest of you, recess is over and you all need to head back to the classroom now."

As Felicia walked away from the crowd and into the building while supporting Peter on her shoulder, she asked "Why didn't you tell her that I was about to hit him?"

"Because you didn't need to get in trouble, too." Peter said. "You were really brave back there, standing up for me. I don't think anyone besides my Uncle Ben has done that before."

"Thank you, Peter." Felicia said.

"No, thank _you_." Peter said, giving her a reassuring smile.

* * *

When the day had ended, Felicia walked out of the school and saw Peter getting into a car with the old man from earlier that morning, whom she assumed was his Uncle Ben. Then, as he was driving away, she saw that he was waving at her, and she waved back. As she started heading for the bus that would drop her back off at home, she heard the familiar honking of a car horn, and she turned to see her father sitting in his car in the parking lot.

After he rolled down his window, Walter called out, saying "Come on, kitten. It's time to go."

Felicia shuffled her feet as she walked towards the car. After she got there, she opened one of the doors in the back, sat down, and buckled herself to the seat. Afterwards, Walter asked "So, are you going to explain to me what happened at school today?" He didn't sound angry, upset, or even disappointed, and that probably scared Felicia the most.

"Well, I met this kid named Peter, and he was getting bullied by someone named Eugene. I tried to get him to stop, but he hurt me." Felicia said.

Walter sighed, then he placed his hands over his eyes. "Remember when I told you not to try and handle these kinds of situations yourself?" he asked.

"Yes, Dad." she said.

"Those rules still apply, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't know how to defend yourself when you're being physically harassed." he said.

Felicia was a bit surprised, and she asked "Wait, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that maybe you should take a self-defense class, just so that you can be ready to protect yourself in case this kind of thing happens again." he said. "How about this weekend, you and me, we enroll you in karate or something of that sort? Sounds like a plan?"

"Yes, definitely!" Felicia said, excited. Maybe with some training, she could be that crime-fighter she dreamed of being one day.

"That's my girl." Walter said. "Come on kitten, let's go home."


	5. Tragedy

**_6 years later..._**

Felicia was now 13-years-old, and a lot of things had changed. Her father had convinced her to sign up for weekly karate classes, and she was now a blue-belt, which was three away from black. With every session that she went to, the more she honed her skills. Also, ever since the incident with Flash in Kindergarten, he hadn't laid a finger on her because he seemed to look terrified every time he walked by her. Perhaps this was because she took self-defense classes and he didn't, or he didn't want another two weeks' worth of detention, or something. Whatever it was, it didn't matter to Felicia as long as he stayed away from her.

In addition, she had formed closer friendships with Peter, Gwen, Harry, Mary Jane, and another kid who appeared in the 4th grade named Eddie Brock. They all got along and trusted each other well. Also, Felicia had changed academically, and managed to keep her schoolwork balanced along with her karate classes and other hobbies. As a result, she was ranked as 3rd in their 8th grade class at Midtown Middle (right below Gwen and Peter, respectively).

However, some things never change.

Peter was still picked on by Flash constantly, but Felicia couldn't intervene because of the promise she made to her father about fighting back only when he attacked _her_ and nobody else. It seemed unfair to her, but disobeying her father was the last thing she wanted to do.

Her childhood dream of helping others had not changed once in her mind. While she never expressed it to others when speaking or showing, she kept it as a sort-of private interest. Occasionally, she would pull a sketchbook out from underneath her bed and work on costume ideas, most of them based around Selina Kyle's Catwoman suit.

One day, this dream would become a reality. But for today, she was waiting outside on a beautiful spring day for her mother to come and pick her up from her karate class.

"Where are you?" Felicia quietly said aloud to herself, head facing towards the ground. Class ended at 3:00 every Saturday afternoon, and it was 3:32. She should've been here long ago.

Suddenly, she heard sirens in the distance, and then she looked upward to see an ambulance speed-by up the road a little bit, followed closely by a police car. While the ambulance kept on driving, the car turned and headed towards where Felicia was. When it came to a screeching halt, the officer driving opened his door and stepped out. When Felicia saw his face, she recognized him to be Sergeant Stacy, Gwen's father.

_What's going on?_

Stacy took off his police-cap and stood in silence for a few moments, looking at Felicia's face with a solemn expression.

"W-what's wrong, Mr. Stacy?" she said, terrified at not knowing what was going on.

Stacy sighed heavily, and he said "I don't know how to explain this to you Felicia, but there's been an accident."

"What kind of accident?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"Well, there was a car accident, and your mother, she..." he sighed again. "I'm so sorry, Felicia."

Felicia felt her eyes burn and tears well up inside her. Her breathing became shaky and her legs felt like they were made of lead.

"No," she said. "No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!"

She started crying heavily, letting thick tears drop to the ground. Stacy walked closer to her, got down on his knee, and let her sob into his shoulder.

"Shh, it's okay." he said "It's alright. Everything's going to be fine."

_How? _Felicia thought. _How is it going to be fine? She's gone, and I can't do a damn thing about it._

* * *

**_Several days later..._**

Walter Hardy was sitting on his bed, a bottle of beer in his hand. He had been such a wreck from his wife's death that he isolated himself to the confines of his bedroom, away from Felicia and the rest of the world. He went to take another sip, but he hadn't realized that the bottle was already empty, and he threw it at the wall in rage. He wasn't drunk, just distraught. Walter looked over to his bedside-table and saw a picture of himself and his wife as young adults, before they got married and settled down. Picking up the picture, he started to gingerly stroke her face as if she were still there.

"I miss you, Lydia." he said, releasing the tears he was holding back. "I miss you so much. I promise, I promise I'll take good care of Felicia. She'll be safe, free to grow up how she wants to. I'll make sure of it, because that's what you'd want. That's what _we _want for our child, my love."

After setting the picture back down on the table, Walter buried his head into his pillow, trying his hardest to fall asleep. After about twenty minutes, he found that it was impossible to do so because Lydia wasn't there beside him.

Suddenly, his cellphone buzzed on the table next to him, indicating that someone sent him a text message. Frustrated, Walter picked it up and saw that it was from an unknown number, and the message read:

_"Outside. Five minutes. Come alone."_

Walter knew there was something oddly suspicious about that text. No one ever sent him a message like this, except for...

_No, it's not him. It can't be. I severed ties with him years ago. He has no reason to contact me._

After getting out of bed, Walter got dressed and left his house, making sure that he didn't wake his daughter while doing so. When he walked to the edge of the street, he waited for about two minutes for someone to come, but no one did. Looking at his watch, he saw that more than five minutes had gone by, and he was wondering why he was still out here. Walter was just about to go back inside when he saw a white bag go over his eyes and felt his arms being handcuffed behind his back. He heard the sound of tires screeching to a halt and a car-door opening, and whoever was behind him pushed him towards it. He was initially going to fight back, but he heard the sound of someone cocking a pistol, and he knew that it would be foolish to try. So, he complied, and he was shoved into the vehicle's backseat, whereupon a voice said "Good evening, Walter. How are we tonight?"

As the door was shut and the vehicle began driving off, Walter recognized the voice, matching the elusive text, and he became extremely furious because he broke their agreement.

"I thought the deal was we would never associate or speak with each other ever again. Remember? I don't answer to you or Rigoletto anymore." he said sternly.

"That was fifteen years ago, Walter. Times change." the voice said. "Rigoletto and I had differences of opinion of your usefulness. He wanted to leave you be, and I wanted to bring you home."

"_That _life isn't my home anymore." Walter said. "I have a family to look after."

"If by 'family,' you mean 'daughter,' then yes, you do." the voice said again. "But you want to keep her safe, no? Want to make sure that she doesn't wind up in any 'accidents' too?"

Walter's blood boiled in hatred at these words. "You son-of-a-bitch! I'll kill you!"

While his hands were cuffed behind him and the bag was still over his eyes, he tried lunging forward at the voice, but he was restrained by two pairs of arms on his shoulders.

"Schultz, Gargan, settle our friend down, please." the voice said again. "Grant him a little self-control."

After calming down, Walter asked "Why? Why did you do it? What purpose did her death serve? What need was there that you had to kill her?"

"We needed to grasp your attention, my friend. We needed something to push you back towards the good ol' life." the voice said again.

"Rigoletto would never allow something of that magnitude. At least _he _knew the meaning of honor and respect. He wouldn't stand for the murder of innocents like you." Walter said, teeth clenched in hate.

"Well, allow me to bring you up to speed on what's been going on lately. Me and Rigoletto didn't see eye-to-eye on most things over the past few years, so there's been a... change of power." the voice said grimly.

"You bastard." Walter said.

"I am now the sole leader of the largest criminal syndicate since the reign of Al Capone. No old-time mobsters are going to force 'honor' and 'respect' upon me anymore." the voice said menacingly.

"Why bring me here? What's wrong with a simple phone call?" Walter asked with much sarcasm.

"Well, for starters, I wanted you to take a good, personal look at the new Kingpin." the voice said as either Gargan or Schultz lifted the bag from his head, showing that the man in front of him was none other than Wilson Fisk, a large, seemingly obese bald man wearing a white suit with a purple vest and tie.

"Really?" Walter asked. "I think your more like a bowling ball than a pin."

Fisk became frustrated at his snide comment and had Schultz punch him in the stomach. Then, he pulled out an M1911 from the inside of his white jacket and said "That so? Then that just makes it all the easier to knock you down, because you're _my _pin now."

"What do you mean?" Walter asked.

"You work for me, now. You will do what I ask you to when I ask you to, do you understand?" Fisk asked, pointing the gun at him.

"Or what?" Walter asked. "You're gonna shoot me?"

"That's just the tip of the iceberg." Fisk said. "You want your girlie to be safe, right?"

"If you so much as lay one _finger _on her-"

"Then you're gonna do what I say. From now on, you work for me. As long as you listen to me, then your so-called 'kitten' will be safe, alright? No harm will come down upon her." Fisk said sadistically.

Walter knew that he had no choice. He couldn't risk the chance of Felicia getting hurt. No matter how much he hated Fisk, he just couldn't. He had made that promise to Lydia that he would keep her safe, and he couldn't break it.

"Fine," Walter reluctantly agreed. "but you better uphold your end of the bargain."

"Don't worry about me, I'll keep my promise. My only concern is you upholding _your _end." Fisk said.

"Oh, I will. Rest assured, I will." Walter said.

"Good. Because if not, then, well, whoops." Fisk said. "The infamous Cat has returned. Welcome home, old friend."

"Trust me, we're not friends." Walter said as the limousine they were in came to a stop. Gargan undid the handcuffs and Schultz threw him out of the car in front of his house.

"I'll be in touch." Fisk said before the car-door shut and they drove away.

Getting up off the ground, Walter walked back inside his house and went up to Felicia's room, where he saw that she was fast-asleep. Kneeling down, Walter kissed her on the forehead and whispered "Goodnight, kitten. Everything's going to be just fine."

As Walter closed her bedroom door and walked back into his own, he knew that what he said was wrong. He just didn't want to admit it.


End file.
